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20 December 2011

6 Christmas myths demystified

Myth 1: Christmas is the most important date on the Christian calendar.

For all the cards sent and trees decorated — to say nothing of all the Nativity scenes displayed, this is not true. Easter, the day on which Christians believe Christ rose from the dead, has more significance than does Dec. 25. Christ’s resurrection means not just that He conquered death, nor is it proof of Jesus’s divinity to his followers; it holds out the promise of salvation for all who believe in him.

Myth 2: Jesus was born on December 25.

No one knows the date on which Jesus was born and there is no record of any date being set apart to mark his birth during the first 300 years of the history of the church. It was not until the 4th century that Christians started to celebrate the birth of Christ on December 25 in an attempt to Christianise the pagan celebration of the birthday of the sun.

Myth 3: Jesus was born in a stable, surrounded by cattle.

The fact that Jesus was laid in a manger — an animal’s feeding trough — has led many to assume that he must have been born in a stable in the midst of cattle. However, the Bible does not mention a stable and it certainly doesn’t refer to the presence of animals. The precise setting in which Jesus was born and spent his earliest hours and days is not described.

Myth 4 : Three Eastern kings followed a star to Jesus’s birthplace.

The visitors from the East are nowhere described as kings in the Bible and, although it is fair to assume that they were men of some standing, their precise social status is unknown. The tradition that there were three Magi or ‘wise men’ is based on the fact that they presented three gifts to Jesus — gold, frankincense and myrrh.

Myth 5 : It was by chance that Jesus was born in Bethlehem because Mary and Joseph just happened to be staying there at the time.

The location of Jesus’s birth was far from accidental. Some 700 years before his birth, the prophet Micah declared that the promised Christ would be born in the insignificant town of Bethlehem.

Myth 6 : The biblical account of the birth of Jesus is a lovely story for children at this time of year, but it doesn’t make any difference to me.

The birth of Jesus makes a profound difference to all of us, whether young or old. Without Jesus, we are cut off from God and none of us is good enough to make it to heaven on our own. The Bible says that Jesus Christ is the only person who can bring us to God, because he is both God and man. He knows what it is like to be human, and he also has the divine power that is needed to bring us back to God.If Jesus had never been born as a baby in Bethlehem, there would be no hope for any of us. But as a result of his birth, and through his subsequent death and resurrection, he has opened up for us a way back to God. Jesus himself said: ‘I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in me should not abide in darkness’ (John 12.46).

Source : Norman Wells on the following website and the Washington post

Genesis 1:24 God said 'Let the land

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